The FCC has allocated 40 megahertz in the 2.3 GHz frequency band for medical devices in hospitals and at home. The move allows cutting wires out of the equation but also simplifies the vast array of medical devices currently using unlicensed or multi-use spectrum.
From the FCC: (PDF)
“However complex the technical details, this item’s purposes are simple: to save lives and reduce health care costs. Through the use of Medical Body Area Network (“MBAN”) devices, health care professionals will be better able to monitor their patients and can intervene at an earlier stage if warning signs emerge.
Moreover, wireless MBAN devices can reduce the risk of infection, improve patient comfort and convenience, and even obviate the need for an initial or extended hospital admission. Thus, by establishing service rules and allocating spectrum for MBAN devices, the FCC today is enabling significant, positive impacts on Americans’ health and on overall health care costs.”
From Gigaom:
“This creative use of spectrum provides wireless health manufacturers with the certainty they need to streamline their product development, which for many years operated on a variety of frequencies,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. “I expect it will eventually lead to technologies not just for health care facilities, but also for in-home use.”
